Big Rocky Fork Covered Bridge

Completed on September 7, 1900, for a construction cost of $1,475.50, the Big Rocky Fork Covered Bridge was built by the prolific Joseph J. Daniels, the same builder responsible for the nearby Mansfield Covered Bridge. This modest single-span Burr Arch Truss structure sits on a hewn limestone foundation about a mile southeast of Mansfield along Greencastle Road, near Fallen Rock Park, an area with local lore about a mysterious rock formation resembling a grave. The valley here was reportedly a favorite hideout of Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger. The bridge carried local road traffic for most of the twentieth century until the county rerouted the road around it in 1987, leaving the historic span in place but bypassed. Volunteers conducted an "Adopt-a-Bridge" cleanup and maintenance effort in 1991 to help preserve the structure. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978, as part of the county's Multiple Property Submission, the Big Rocky Fork Covered Bridge today stands quietly off the main road, a well-preserved but lightly visited stop for covered-bridge enthusiasts touring Jackson Township.